It was all pretty genteel, none of yer "Ah but a man's reach should exceed his grasp/Or what's a heaven for?" Most of our challenges were little more than inconveniences (heat, hills, no cafés nearby), and demanding rather than damaging. Still, there were plenty of strenuous hills, and the presence of those wretched F150s was a constant reminder of a cyclist's vulnerability.

Whenever we visit southern Ontario, I'm always reminded how much more northern a landscape I live in. The biggest difference is the broadleaf forest in southern Ontario, diminished though it is--there are vines and creepers all over the place, for example. And of course the farms are bigger in every way--although again, the cities, especially Toronto, are gobbling up farmland every day.

Now that I've worked out a couple of technical drills on CycleBlaze, I'll post another "Tour of the extended neighbourhood," a slightly revised version of my Ottawa-Toronto there-and-back from September 2017.

Cheers, John

PS: That aerosol could be a cyclist's equivalent of a nighttime graffiti artist's paint can